Coast to Coast Walk

The weather forecast was looking dodgy but I decided to head off on the Coast to Coast walk this morning anyway, heading towards Onehunga. Yellow signs going my way and blue ones coming towards me. No sunshine photos today sorry, but the walk took me through some lovely parts of Auckland- congrats to those who worked out the route.

 First climb of the morning was up to Emily Place towards part of the university. This stiff little climb quickly reminded me that I have been pretty much limited to leisurely walks on the flat lately back home in Palmy!

I was walking in historical parts of early European settlement in Auckland from the outset.
I headed downhill again near parts of Auckland dominated by roads, then up into the Domain, where I was pleased to find a public toilet when I needed one!

 

I was glad to be on my feet mostly in quieter streets and parks as I walked over the (Grafton?) overbridge. 

I walked past Auckland Grammar and was in a very expensive part of the city. Nearby the school was this very simple house, not too different in size and era to my own, but I imagine its price tag would be ten times as much.

Next came the highlight- walking up to the top of Mt Eden, and walking around the old volcanic crater rim. The views weren't 'pretty' with the overcast and drizzly conditions, but the whole place was so atmospheric. How fierce the eruptions must have been once from that crater. And so many other peaks were visible from on top, including Rangitoto where I hope to go soon.

 

Then it was down that peak, to head over towards Cornwall Park and One Tree Hill. I missed a sign after Auckland Teacher's College in the rain, and ended up on a much busier road for a while, but I guess that's the true Auckland too.

Cornwall Park was lovely, and like other parks I'd walked in/near today, needs proper exploration all by itself. I was glad to see some of the sheep I had read about, so close to the CBD, with the bonus being that there were lambs too. 

These last shots were taken while sheltering under my umbrella, and I was starting to feel a bit damp, albeit warm. So I never went to the summit, but instead headed down towards Royal Oak where I found lovely shelter and company at a bus stop. Then it was back to the CBD. Strava tells me I did 13.8km, and it was a satisfying walk with lots of interesting sights along the way.

Auckland holiday- arrival

These hols I am having a wee sojourn to explore a little of Auckland. It started off a little slowly with a delayed flight out of Palmy, but eventually I was airborne and leaving Manawatu.


I had a window seat, and the cloud stayed away long enough to see one of our meandering rivers below. But then cloud became our companion below.

I was glad to find some sunshine in Auckland as they have had so much heavy rain lately. I was very happy as soon as I saw my Aparthotel room, as it has lovely windows that let in plenty of light, and there is a bit of a park I look out at, near Vector Arena. And even better, I can see the view even when I am resting my feet up on the bed!

 Once I had settled in I took a bit of a walk downtown.

I got an ATHop card so I can get around on public transport easily, then headed towards the Wynyard Quarter down by the harbour.

Many expensive boats around as it is a Boat Show week. Looked amazing, but hard to reconcile such luxury with the homelessness and inadequate /expensive housing so many endure in this city.

 There is always so much to see and explore in the Wynyard Quarter.

 I noticed a City Link bus stop nearby so caught it and used my Hop card successfully for the first time to get to Queen St. So many contrasts. The Sky Tower and St Patrick's Cathedral, and road cones...

I made my way back to the hotel via Countdown with a couple of bags of groceries to see me through... Now to get ready for tomorrow's adventure...

Taranaki Sojourn

I had several days in New Plymouth last week, and have made a Flickr Album of some photos.  I may or may not get around to a proper blog post later ;-)

Weekend in Palmy

This weekend was a Palmy stay-cation... Saturday saw me walking along the 'far end' of the river pathway for a change, from the carpark by the motor camp, down just past Waitoetoe Beach. It was 5.2km Strava tells me, so a good stretch for the legs.

 The water in the river was flowing quickly and it was quite full after recent rain, carrying plenty of sediment.

 The path had a good smattering of walkers on it, many of them with dogs. With the black skies ahead of me, I was expecting to encounter rain somewhere along the way- but I was lucky.

 There was a new sculpture acknowledging the history of the Rangitane people in this locality. The plaque told of a nearby lagoon which was used for fishing, but that has long been drained.

 Across the river along the other bank, you can see evidence of the new shared path they are constructing, that will mean people are able to cycle/walk all the way out to Linton on a separated path. I am so happy these paths are being developed, and I am sure I will be out on my bicycle more often again soon!

This side-track leads down to Waitoetoe Beach, which seems like a peaceful place albeit a bit on the wild side. Today my eye was drawn to the darker layer in the cliff face, and I wondered whether that dated from a distant volcanic eruption, or how else it might have been formed.

The track continues to come out near Panieri Park, and there is a toilet block there if you want to use it- wharepaku.

 In this photo you can see the pile of limestone chips that is ready to be laid on the track on the other side of the river.

Today I had a quick expedition downtown and wandered in part of the Square. This blue building is Square Edge, and was the PNCC building in a former life. It had a gentler colour scheme for many years, with a beautiful mural on it. I was sad to see that disappear, and it took me some time to accept this new, more vibrant colour scheme. But I actually appreciate it now, and it does look good with blue skies behind.

 Right next door is All Saints Church. This is currently closed until they do major earthquake strengthening. It has a similar brick construction to church buildings that failed in the Christchurch quakes, and we have a large chance of a similarly large quake centred near here one day.

 And just to finish off, here is a winter tree in the Square. The skies might be blue, but the air was somewhat chilly, and despite a 'delayed arrival', it is definitely wintertime here now.

Arrivederci from a Palmy winter!

Manawatu Country Road -QB weekend

Our Queen’s Birthday weekend has brought a dose of glorious winter blue skies, and it was a good time to take my new car, LaBleue, out for a wee roadie into the Manawatu countryside. When you think of Manawatu, you possibly think ‘floodplains, flat’- but there is  actually a lot of variation in the scenery. I used the Manawatu Country Road brochure and headed out on my QB version of the various roads and options on the map.

First I decided I needed to leave Palmerston North by a slightly different route from normal, so instead of driving straight to Feilding first, I headed towards Ashhurst, then took roads through Hiwinui and Colyton. (And I passed the schools in both settlements, neither of which I had seen before, despite my many years of teaching in this area!)

As I neared Ashhurst, you could see fog spilling out of the Gorge, but not dimming the blue skies on this side of the Gorge. I think they have seen quite a lot of fog there this weekend, while we have fortunately basked under sunshine and blue skies.

From Hiwinui, I drove along a ‘mini rollercoaster’ and also saw lots of serious cyclists. This countryside is made for them! The hills leveled out and I was on flatter land again near Colyton, and through Cheltenham. There were some glorious autumn tree colours en route. All along the way I passed interesting farm sheds, and I stopped to take photos of quite a few! There were also transformers and power poles that looked duly stark against blue skies.

Kimbolton has a grand welcome for those driving along this scenic route: there is a brand new set of toilets. Plus there are some beautiful old buildings, and the Domain looks impressive with its autumn trees.

North of Kimbolton I was definitely back into hill country and winding roads. The view from the Apiti lookout was striking, and I often caught glimpses out to Ruapehu on my left- though it wasn’t easy to pull over anywhere and take a photo.

I nearly took the Peep-o-Day route by accident- and perhaps one day I will return to do this when I go to visit my friend Hayley not far south of Ohingaiti. I carried on as far as Pemberton Corner- not far short of Rangiwahia- and read all the historic plaques there about an early settlement that has long disappeared.

Then I headed across on Mangomako Road, planning to come out on SH1 just south of Ohingaiti. I was expecting to be driving an unsealed route here, but it was sealed all the way. There was the bonus of emerging up high to see the Rangitikei River below.

 I crossed the bridge and found myself briefly in the Rangitikei region. Had a bit of drama as a black steer crossed the bridge behind me. When I stopped to take photos I found myself stepping smartly back to my car to avoid it, but then it stopped to munch grass contentedly on the verge. I decided the best thing to do was ring *555, and hope it is now safely ‘home’.

At Mangaweka I turned off SH1 and discovered a whole ‘old’ main street, that some people are clearly making efforts to rejuvenate. Mangaweka is hedged in close to the hills though, and in some ways it seems ‘wild’, as if it has borrowed a bit of time from the surrounding bush that is now sneaking in to reclaim it.

For all of the brief time that I was in Rangitikei, I felt as if I had taken forbidden egress out of the Manawatu- and as if I was some kind of illegal immigrant into Rangitikei! But just north of the town I turned off SH1 to the right, and rejoined the Manawatu Scenic route, just over the historic Mangaweka Bridge, which also crosses the Rangitikei River. One day I will come back and explore more of the Kawhatau back roads that I bypassed.

At Ruahine I diverted down to see the “Dress Circle” which I had heard about many years before. There was a pretty little waterfall, but somehow I has imagined something much more dramatic. Take care if you decide to come down here:- the road to the picnic area was a little muddy and you could get stuck some days.

It didn’t take long to reach Rangiwahia, where I ate the lunch I had brought with me, belatedly, before heading eastwards in towards the ranges, on the road towards Apiti.

But just before I reached Apiti, I turned eastwards again to follow the road down the Pohangina Valley East route. This whole eastern route was wonderful- with many ups and downs between bluffs and valleys that gave some great views.

I will have to come back and explore more...  In the middle of ‘nowhere’ I suddenly passed the Komako Church. And I realised that I was passing Totara Reserve, which I had always thought was on the other side of the Pohangina Valley. Really, it is well past time I visited there!

At Raumai I found myself back on the main Pohangina Valley road, and was soon home again in Palmerston North. I had been blessed with winter sunshine all day- and have lots of ideas for further exploration back in these hidden parts of Manawatu.

I took lots of photos as the sunshine was beautiful and the skies were so blue. There is a selection here on this Flickr album. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I have more to report from another local roadie!

Manawatu Country Road

Yesterday I took a 'roadie' in the Manawatu to try out my new car... Here is a Flickr album of some of the photos I took on a beautiful calm winter's day with blue skies and cool temperatures. I might get around to a blog later!